1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic percussion instrument and, in particular embodiments, to an electronic percussion instrument with which a musical tone is generated in conformance with output of sensors that are respectively disposed on a head and a rim.
2. Related Art
In a performance with an acoustic drum, in addition to the usual performance in which only the striking surface (the head) is struck, it is possible to broaden the scope of the performance by the so-called rim shot performance method. For the rim shot, there are, in general, two types of performance methods: (i) the open rim shot in which the rim and the striking surface (the head) are struck at the same time and a hard striking sound effect that includes many characteristic drum overtones is produced; and (ii) the closed rim shot in which only the rim is struck and a “clattering” percussive sound is produced.
For some time, electronic percussion instruments have been disclosed where the type of performance method that has been performed (an open rim shot or a closed rim shot) is detected in the electronic percussion instrument and musical tones are generated that correspond to the respective performance methods.
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number 2003-108120 (Patent Reference 1), an electronic percussion instrument is disclosed in which two switches SW1 and SW2 are disposed on the rim section of the electronic percussion instrument. In such an electronic percussion instrument, a sound is generated that switches between a musical tone that corresponds to an open rim shot and a musical tone that corresponds to a closed rim shot in conformance with the conduction state of the two switches.
In addition, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number Hei 10-198375 (Patent Reference 2), an electronic percussion instrument is disclosed in which a head sensor and a rim shot sensor are arranged on a support member that is placed inside a hollow body of the electronic percussion instrument. The head sensor is affixed on a top surface of the hollow body and detects the vibration of the head. The rim shot sensor detects the vibration of the rim section. Using the rim shot sensor, it is possible to uniformly detect a striking force without depending on which location of the rim section has been struck.
However, with the invention that has been disclosed in Patent Reference 1, two switches must be disposed on the rim section of the electronic percussion instrument. Thus, there is the problem that the cost of the electronic percussion instrument becomes high. Also, there are the problems that the performer must carry out the performance by differentiating between the two switches and the performance methods are constrained.
In Patent Reference 2, a mechanism is disclosed in which the striking forces that have been imparted to the head section and the rim section are respectively detected. However, there is no disclosure in Patent Reference 2 as to the generation of a variety of musical tones that conform to performance methods, such as an open rim shot or a closed rim shot, in accordance with the striking force that has been detected.